Lee Westwood faces an enthralling challenge to successfully defend his title in The Race to Dubai following Louis Oosthuizen’s thrilling Open Championship triumph at St Andrews.
Westwood, who captured the Dubai World Championship to secure European Number One honours in 2009, is currently in second place in The 2010 Race to Dubai behind Graeme McDowell, the US Open Champion.
McDowell (€1,974,181) leads by €151,443 from Westwood (€1,822,738) followed by Ernie Els (€1,650,385) and Charl Schwartzel (€1,596,316) with Oosthuizen (€1,510,256) moving into fifth place.
A measure of the strength of the second Race to Dubai is the fact that, currently, from McDowell down to Spain’s Alvaro Quiros in 13th place, each player has earned in excess of €1,000,000.
Last November, Westwood captured the Dubai World Championship with scores of 66, 69, 66 and 64 for a 23 under par winning total of 265 – and his pursuers on the Earth Course included Oosthuizen, who shared second place after a second round 66 before finishing 12th.
Westwood, who finished runner-up behind Oosthuizen at St Andrews, said: “Everyone who knows me knows how proud I was to win both the first Dubai World Championship and the inaugural Race to Dubai last year and I will do my utmost to repeat the feat in November.
“I produced some of my best golf in the tournament last year and, as a result, I am proud to wear the unique logo on my sleeve which signifies I was European Number One in 2009. Hopefully I can have a logo to match on my other sleeve come the end of this season.”
The Race to Dubai, leading to the Dubai World Championship, comprises 48 tournaments – The Open Championship was the 30th – played in 27 destinations and there are 18 remaining tournaments in which Westwood can compete in his attempt to become only the ninth player to retain The Harry Vardon Trophy.
The second Dubai World Championship, to be played from November 25-28 at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will again feature the Number One to 60 players on The Race to Dubai – the season-long competition for the world’s leading golfers - and will be managed and delivered by The European Tour.
Leisurecorp, which owns Jumeirah Golf Estates (which is managed by Nakheel Marine and Leisure), has confirmed it remains committed to hosting the Dubai World Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates and the company is eager that The European Tour builds on the phenomenal success of the inaugural event which attracted a global television audience in excess of 50 million.
Saeed Harib, Managing Director Nakheel Marine and Leisure, said: “The Dubai World Championship is a key event for Dubai and the wider region and last year’s tournament is testament to this.
“We will continue to work closely with our partners, The European Tour, to stage an excellent tournament and we look forward to welcoming players, spectators and fans to Jumeirah Golf Estates later this year.”
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: “We are again looking forward to the Dubai World Championship following the enormous success of the inaugural tournament which brought such a superb climax to The Race to Dubai last November.”
Prize money for the Dubai World Championship and The Race to Dubai remains at US$ 7,500,000 each making a total purse of US$ 15,000,000. First prize for the Dubai World Championship is US$ 1,250,000 and the winner also receives a five year exemption to The European Tour. First prize in the The Race to Dubai Bonus Pool which the 15 top ranked players share is US$ 1,500,000 with the Number One player also receiving a seven year exemption and The Harry Vardon Trophy.
